IRER 65

Chapter 65

 The Reason for the Shock

“Why… why… why…!”

Suddenly, memories of last night flashed through Brody’s mind like lightning.

“I… in the potato field… I….”

She couldn’t remember why she had gone to the potato field.

But she vividly recalled the moment when she had… almost forcibly(?) tried to kiss him while clinging to his neck…

And how she had made such self-indulgent, absurd remarks about how His Highness’s expression might change, as if her kiss meant something…

The memory made her face burn bright red.

“Ugh, am I insane? Was that a dream? Or is it real? That was me? I did something like that last night?”

Brody denied the drunken version of herself. She never understood why people made mistakes while drunk—but now she realized this was how “dark pasts” were created.

Aidan, seeing Brody clutching her face in distress, spoke with concern:

“Oh dear. You’re clearly in a lot of pain. I’ll go fetch some medicine.”

“No need for medicine. I can make it myself. More importantly…”

Brody pressed her temples while covering her flushed face.

“I won’t drink anymore. Never. Absolutely never!”

“…….”

Aidan hesitated to agree. Of course, seeing her struggle with a hangover was pitiful…

‘It’s a shame she won’t drink at all. Her drunken antics were kind of cute…’

He remembered Brody’s smiling, tipsy face. But thinking about what had happened afterward… well, it was probably better if she didn’t drink.

“Alright. It’s best to refrain from alcohol.”

Brody’s spirits sank further at Aidan’s serious words, spoken after a brief hesitation.

❖ ❖ ❖

“Haah…”

Brody sighed deeply as she kneaded the dough.

What on earth had she done yesterday?

She knew she had done something, but not remembering it left her feeling uneasy in a way she had never experienced.

And judging by Aidan agreeing that “it’s best to refrain from alcohol,” she must have done something terribly wrong.

Satisfied that the dough was ready, Brody placed a bowl beneath it and brought a sterilized knife close to her left arm.

“Just a poke, just a poke.”

But handling a knife skillfully wasn’t easy for Brody, who was neither a doctor nor a chef.

“Oh dear… Looks like I’ll need to make quite a lot of medicine.”

Brody unintentionally cut a larger wound than expected, frowned, stopped the bleeding, and quickly wrapped a bandage.

‘Once this is done, I should make other emergency medicines too. And I’ll need a defensive plan. I can manage a plant barrier in hidden places, but what about open areas? I’ll need to think. For offensive measures, I could make paralyzing powder or pepper powder… and then…’

Lost in thoughts while moving, she eventually finished preparing the medicine.

She placed the nicely baked, reddish beads carefully into the medicine bottles with a sigh.

‘But if I vomited on my clothes… then His Highness must have cleaned up afterward. Seriously, how much trouble did I cause to ruin my clothes? Brody, is it even possible to blackout just from a little drinking?’

Trying to distract herself, her thoughts inevitably snapped back to last night.

‘Ah, forget it. Worrying about things I don’t remember won’t help. I didn’t kill anyone. I probably just did something embarrassing.’

“What are you doing right now?”

“Waaah!”

A sudden voice behind her made Brody almost drop the bottles. She managed to catch them after a few precarious bounces and turned to see who had spoken.

It was a familiar yet strangely foreign face.

“River… Chief of Staff?”

Seeing her reaction, River lifted one corner of his mouth.

“Today you’re calling me ‘Chief of Staff,’ huh?”

“…….”

Brody blinked, puzzled.

“Then…?”

Haven’t I always called him that?

River smirked at her confusion.

“Yesterday, you threatened to call me ‘Chief of Staff River’ without the honorific ‘-nim.’”

Yesterday? I said that? Wait… did I even meet him yesterday? River was here yesterday? When?

‘Ugh, why yesterday of all days!’

Normally speaking informally, River now used formal speech with her—probably out of courtesy since she was to become the Grand Duchess.

Though she couldn’t remember, yesterday’s interaction probably went along those lines.

Brody quickly composed herself.

“Ah, yes, Chief of Staff. But what brings you here?”

She asked casually, hoping he wouldn’t notice she couldn’t remember yesterday due to drinking.

River studied her closely as they spoke.

‘That obvious way he observes people!’

River’s attitude still irked Brody.

“Well, I came to speak with you. Preferably somewhere His Highness isn’t present.”

“Is there something to discuss away from His Highness? I don’t have anything personal to talk about.”

“Neither do I. It’s just that His Highness wouldn’t provide an answer anyway.”

Brody closed a medicine bottle and turned from the ingredients, signaling with her eyes that he could ask his questions.

“So, my lady, what exactly is your relationship with Duke McCarthy?”

“……!”

Brody couldn’t answer. Not because she wanted to hide her relationship with McCarthy, but because… a shadow suddenly leapt through the open kitchen door!

“River! Watch out!”

Startled, River twisted, but not quickly enough.

A sharp knife flew toward his side.

Blood splattered.

“River!”

The blade cut deeply into his side.

It could have been fatal, but the attacker wasn’t skilled, so it wasn’t a lethal strike.

A gaunt woman with disheveled black hair, wielding a kitchen knife, stood before them. Madness shone in her eyes.

Crash! River lost balance and fell toward Brody, and she ended up beneath him on the floor.

“Ugh.”

A sharp pain rose in her back, but now wasn’t the time to worry about it.

The crazed woman swung her knife wildly, sending blood spraying in all directions.

“R-River, are you okay?”

“Do I look okay?”

“….”

Judging by how she spoke, she probably wasn’t in mortal danger.

But that wasn’t the immediate concern.

“My daughter! Give me my precious daughter! You cruel fiend! You deserve to be burned in hell! My daughter… oh, my daughter Nike. She’s not even of age yet…”

The madwoman screamed, closing in.

“Chief of Staff, can’t you fight?”

“I fight with my head, not my hands.”

“Then at least draw your sword!”

“If I had one, I already would have.”

The two bickered while using their hands and feet to crawl backward.

But the building had limits; there was nowhere else to retreat.

“Stand up, human!”

Brody struggled to lift River so they could escape, but he seemed unable to put weight on his legs due to his injury.

He clenched his lips as the knife traced a line before him.

“Damn it.”

“Ahh!”

River struggled to turn and shield Brody with his body.

“R-River?”

“Stay still. His Highness will notice soon. Whether we survive until then is the real question.”

Though it was touching that River tried to protect her, Brody realized that if he moved aside, she could have escaped.

The woman seemed to be targeting River.

‘Even so, I can’t just leave the Chief of Staff and run.’

Brody squinted at the woman through the backlighting, her gaze terrifying.

‘No choice.’

Suddenly, plant vines shot up from the floor, restraining the woman.

“Ugh! Ahhh!”

She screamed, thrashing as if she couldn’t understand why her body wouldn’t move.

“Could you keep it down a bit?”

Now wasn’t the time for loud noises.

River noticed the situation was odd—the woman thrashing, Brody’s strange remarks, and the unseen knife—and turned to look.

“What… what is that?!”

He saw the woman entangled in the plants, struggling.

But the next moment, a sharp scent of leaves reached his nose, and he fainted.

“Finally…”

Brody pushed River away using the plants. His unconscious body fell to the floor, away from her.

She noticed a purple leaf in her hand.

“Oof.”

The impact hurt more than expected. She groaned as she tried to rise.

“Sorry, but there’s no other way, ah!”

As she approached the woman to rub the leaf on her philtrum, the woman struggled, leaving a long scratch on Brody’s cheek.

Brody tightened the plants and pressed the leaf harder.

The black-haired woman finally went limp.

“Haah…”

Brody finally exhaled in relief.

Or so she thought—until a large shadow loomed at the door.

“Your… Highness!”

Panicked, Brody made the plants vanish. The woman fell to the floor as the door slammed shut.

Aidan had entered behind her, quickly locking all external windows.

“…….”

The interior grew darker with the outside light blocked.

Brody and Aidan froze, exchanging glances.

Fortunately, no one else had seen anything—except Aidan.

He scanned the room, frowning, looking as if angry despite no headache.

Brody guessed the reason and spoke in a defensive tone:

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. It was urgent… I had no choice.”

Aidan’s eyes widened, but his frown deepened.

“I’m not blaming you.”

“…?”

“I shouldn’t have let my guard down. Coming to the north… I shouldn’t have let my guard down. I shouldn’t have been apart from you for even a moment…”

Brody understood—he had misunderstood. She quickly clarified:

“Ah! Your Highness! That’s not it.”

Aidan stared gloomily. She hurriedly added:

“It wasn’t the princess’s party. She wasn’t targeting me.”

“Not targeting you? Yet you’re injured?”

“Your Highness, that… ah!”

Suddenly, Aidan stepped forward, pressed her against the wall, and trapped her between his arms.

“Your Highness?”

He didn’t answer, holding her waist with one hand and her chin with the other, beginning to lick her cheek.